


Lights and Shadows

by Blindvogel



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-04 17:23:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6667663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blindvogel/pseuds/Blindvogel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of fluffy pieces from my tumblr - with the purpose to illuminate Vex's and Percy's relationship. <br/>Minor spoilers past episode 49.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Near light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CurrieBelle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CurrieBelle/gifts), [ScrawledScript](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScrawledScript/gifts).



The daylight is already fading as Vox Machina reappears at the mouth of the Sphinx’s cave. Bruised and bloodied they just stand there unmoving for a moment, each one of them processing what just happened. Then they are all talking at once, Scanlan, Keyleth, Vax and Grog clustering around Pike, fretting and arguing.   
Percy is listening only absentmindedly to their bickering, his focus entirely on Vex. She has moved away from the group and leans now against the tunnel wall. He can see her grimacing as she inspects the wounds she sustained from the battle and gingerly places a hand to her side to take the edge off with a small Cure Wounds spell.   
His feet carry him over almost without his own volition and Vex gives him a curious look as he steps close, but says nothing. Percy knows that he is an open book right now, he can feel his worry bloom on his face. The sight of her unmoving body on cold stone floor is playing on repeat in his mind.   
Wordlessly he reaches into his bag and produces a healing potion that he holds out for Vex to take. It is only when both her hands take hold of his and carefully pry his fingers away from the bottle does Percy notice that he is shaking.   
He watches her uncork the bottle with her teeth and down the liquid in one fast pull, one of her hands still holding on to his.  
“Thank you, Percy.” Her voice is quiet and somber, but warms around his name and he can see the beginning of a smile form in the corners of her lips.   
He lets himself be pulled next to her and leans against the wall with a sigh, looking towards the rest of the group. The argument on the other side of the cave is still occupying them.  
A weight registers against his arm and shoulder - Vex leaning on him for support, and the warmth of her body slowly seeps into his, dissolving the knot of panic that formed in his heart.   
Percy feels the shivers subside and his body relax, holding on to Vex’s hand and not letting go for a long while.


	2. Guide me through the Night

Vex can not sleep. She tries for a few hours, tossing and turning in her sheets, but it will not come. With a huff she abandons the endeavor and climbs out of bed, throwing a morning mantle over against the cold of the castle. They have been staying at Whitestone to recuperate after the Sphinx fight and needless to say there was still tension over the whole thing with Craven Edge.  
Not quite knowing what to do with herself Vex wanders through the hallways of the sleeping castle, jumping from moonbeam to moonbeam filtering through the tall windows of the main hallway until her feet decide to carry her to the only place in the whole structure that is always warm - Percy’s workshop. She pulls the door open and slips inside, expecting the room to be empty at this time of night.  
Yet in the dim light of the forge she can see Percy sitting on the floor, slumped against the workbench. She rushes to his side, worry wrapping around her chest and taking her breath. Sinking to her knees next to him Vex sees that he is asleep, notices the frown on his face, the clenched fists in his lap. He has knocked his glasses askew in his unrest and she gingerly takes them off and places them on top of the workbench. Looking around for something to cover him with she spots the cot at the wall. It is new to her and she wonders when he had placed it there, how often he fell asleep here and did not make it to his room.  
Suddenly there is a strangled cry and Percy shifts next to her, waking from a nightmare. His eyes are wide and unfocused and his breathing quick and shallow. Vex has to fight her instincts to just hug him tight. Instead she stretches her arms out to him ever so slowly, making hushed cooing sounds as if to reassure a frightened animal. He turns to look at her, eyes still wide with fear, and it feels to Vex like an eternity until his face relaxes with recognition and his hands take hold of hers.  
Afterwards she doesn’t clearly remember how she coaxes him up from the floor and over to the makeshift bed of his. Vex just remembers his head on her shoulder, the smell of metal and gunpowder and mint in her nose. His arm draped over her stomach, pulling her close. She draws shapes on his back, strokes his head until she can feel his breath even out and his heartbeat slow. She falls asleep soon after.  
When the morning light wakes her, Vex carefully extricates herself from Percy’s hold and sneaks back into her room before anyone can notice. Neither of them mention the night at breakfast but Vex feels that something between them has shifted.


	3. When in Darkness we wander

Percy hates dark tunnels. Not because he is claustrophobic, which he isn’t, or because he is afraid of the dark, which he isn’t either thankyouverymuch. But because they make him feel useless, entirely dependent on a lightsource someone else in the party needs to provide for the sake of his entirely normal, entirely human eyes (- he was never good at remembering to buy torches, even though he swears to himself every time they are in a town he will). Usually Keyleth steps up with her Burning Hands spell or Vax pulls out his Flametongue Dagger so he doesn’t have to stumble blindly through the dark.   
It’s just this time, neither of them are here to help, having chosen another route to their quarry to cover more ground. So there is nothing left for him but to slowly shuffle forward, following Grog’s lumbering footsteps and the soft clinking sound that Pike’s armor makes when she walks.   
To add injury to insult, he hits his foot on some damnable thing on the floor and stumbles forward, nearly falls, arms flailing.   
Percy almost swears as an arm wraps around his waist and steadies him, a hand grabbing his wrist helping him to right himself.   
“Careful darling. No need to sweep the floor with your good coat.”, the darkness says with Vex’s voice, followed by a quiet chuckle.   
He notices her grip on his hand shift, feels her ducking underneath his arm so he can drape it over her shoulder, her other hand sliding slowly over his side to a more comfortable position on his back.   
“I thought you went with your brother and Keyleth.” He is glad about how steady his voice sounds.   
A sigh.   
“I did, at first. But it seemed like he really wanted to talk to Keyleth, alone, so I decided to come back and follow you guys instead. And it seems like a good choice too, can’t let you run into walls and such.”   
He knows she’s smiling now, he can hear it in the tone of her voice.   
She nudges him forward and they continue walking, at a normal pace now that she leads him. Percy thinks that it is quite telling, that every time he is lost in the dark it is Vex’s voice that keeps him going, leads the way to where he can see again. He wants her to know that, how much she means to him, but can not find the words.  
Yet there must have been something showing on his face for he feels her shift and then there are soft lips pressed against his jaw, just for a heartbeat.  
And suddenly dark tunnels don’t seem so bad anymore.


	4. We carry the Light in us

Vex likes the darkness. Mostly because it’s just so fucking easy to be yourself when no one else can see you. That’s why she likes being around Percy so much, dear sweet Percival, who can’t see shit when you take away his glasses or the light ( - at least, that’s what she tells herself, or tries to, clearly not because there’s more...).  
So guiding him through the dark tunnel feels nice, his arm warm around her shoulders, her face set in a pensive frown that no one can call her out on. Grog, Pike and Scanlan are far enough ahead to make out anything distinctive. Yes, she could get used to this.  
Vex uses the time she has before they catch up to the others to take a really good look at Percy’s face. There are dark circles underneath his eyes, he clearly was still sleeping badly, his lips set in a thin line. She can see that he is thinking furiously, words forming before his eyes, stringing together to sentences only to be dismissed again with a soft shake of his head. Frustration is creeping into his expression.  
Without giving it much thought, Vex stretches to plant a soft kiss against his tense jaw, just trying to distract from whatever dark idea he is chasing. She had done something like this before, she tells herself then, and he was okay with it.  
So she is surprised when Percy stops them after two more steps and turns to face her. She reads determination in his eyes and wonders briefly if she went to far. After all, when she winked and flirted, he never flirted back, or did anything much, really, to encourage her.  
Sometimes he is just so hard to read, her Percival.  
“What is it, dear?”  
“There is something I want you to know, Vex, and I can’t seem to find the right words so this will have to do, for now.”  
His voice is pitched low so as not to reach the others and it does something strange to her heart, she feels it flutter against her rib cage like a caught bird.  
His hands find her shoulders and settle there for a moment, as if to steady him, then slide up her neck to cup her cheeks.  
A faint “Oh..” escapes her as he leans forward, slowly, carefully, and presses his lips to hers.  
Vex’s eyes close as she returns the kiss and the last clear thought she has before they are all blissfully driven away, is that right now, she could light up the dark all by herself for him.


	5. When Night is almost done

It takes Percy the better part of a week to sort out his thoughts and feelings after that kiss in the tunnel with Vex. Not that he was not aware of them or unable to put them into words, okay that is a lie, he struggles to craft a sentence that manages to convey what he wants to say the exact way. And therein lies the crux of it, he wants it to be perfect, like all the things he crafts for her.   
In this time he avoids Vex, and Vax and Keyleth, as much as possible. Percy notices the confusion and hurt in Vex’s eyes, even though she hides it well, and he is sorry that he is the cause of it but he needs time. And she gives it to him, for that he is grateful, more than she could ever know.   
But eventually, during an evening spent in Scanlan’s oh so convenient magic mansion, he feels sure enough that he has found the right thing to say.   
He finds Vex in the foyer, sitting on the staircase and idly stroking Trinket’s fur.  
“Vex, can I talk to you?”  
She tilts her head sideways as she looks at him, directing a questioning half-smile at him that only just reaches her eyes.   
“Of course, darling.”  
He motions to her to follow him and leads them to the library, a place he knows they can talk undisturbed for at least a little while. But when they are alone, for the first time since that kiss, and she looks at him expectantly the words he laid out so carefully just won’t come. Percy begins to pace the room, absentmindedly rubbing his neck.   
“Percy? What’s wrong, dear?”   
Her voice is soft in the silence, a hint of worry snaking around the edges of the words.   
Somewhere in the back of his head he is aware that he is making it harder for himself (and her!) than it could be - than it should be.   
When he doesn’t respond for a while he hears her try again.  
“Percival?”  
More worry this time, and barely audible. He knows that tone in her voice, has heard it before. She had said his name just like this when Cassandra had killed Lady Briarwood and he had just stood there, watching, unmoving.   
Percy stops pacing and closes his eyes for a moment, trying his hardest to collect his thoughts, grasping for the words that had been on his mind before and sounded so easy in his head.  
He feels the energy in the room shift before Vex’s outburst.  
“For fuck’s sake, Percival! Spit it out!”   
He spins around to look at her, face red with desperation and anger, and then words finally leave his mouth, but they come out all wrong, harsh and almost accusing.   
“I love you.”  
Vex’s eyes widen for the fraction of a heartbeat then form slits as she stalks towards him across the room. Her fingers dig painfully in his shoulders when she takes hold of them. Percy feels his heart drop.  
“Not like this. Not like you regret it. Never. Again. Like this.”   
Her intensity pins him down and he swallows hard, licks his lips, lets out a shaking breath.  
“I love you.”  
This time it is right, soft and vulnerable and honest.  
His reward is a smile so beautiful and blinding he could be staring into the sun.


	6. And Sunrise Grows So Near

Sleep has not always been kind to Vex in the last weeks. Ever since her brush with death and the Raven Queen (and arguably also this whole immense fuck-up that is the Chroma Conclave) she’s had trouble sleeping, regularly waking from bad dreams or just tossing and turning, unable to find rest for a long time.  
Yet this morning when Vex opens her eyes she feels at ease. She feels … happy.

Her gaze drifts lazily across the room, until it reaches a pile of clothing, both familiar and strange to her in that state. A blue coat, thrown carelessly over the back of a chair. A vest, not her own, on the ground next to it, a shirt, marred with black gunpowder stains.  
Then a faint murmur draws her attention to the man in her bed. She can not see his face, for he has buried it deep in her cushions, his white hair mussed and standing at odd angles.  
A quiet laugh escapes her lips and with it something stirs in her chest, something big and bright and soft, something she could not name for a long time. Until Percy found the words for her.  
This clever, foolish man. 

Vex gazes at him and smiles, reaches out and smooths his hair with gentle fingers.  
“I love you.”  
It’s only a whisper, she is afraid to wake him. Not ready yet to face the day, dragons and dangers, and her brother. So instead Vex watches Percy sleep, drinking in the peaceful quiet and tucking it away deep in her heart for later when she will need it. 

When he finally wakes and extricates his face from the pillow there is a momentary look of confusion in his large blue eyes. Then they find her face and understanding floods him, along with a flush so bright Vex could with certainty fry eggs on his cheekbones.  
“Good morning,” she says with a grin.  
To his credit, it takes Percy only a few seconds to catch himself again. Then his lips form a smile so lovely Vex can not tear her eyes away, until she feels his hand cupping her cheek and guiding her towards him. 

She meets his gaze, and reads in it the same wish: to hell with everything else, let’s just be happy for a few more moments.


End file.
